Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of Indonesia, has extended the country’s moratorium on deforestation for another 2 years. This moratorium prohibits new exploitation permits for both primary forests and peat lands in conservation forests, protected forests and production forests. It will also apply to other forest areas included in the new indicative moratorium map.

“The most important thing is the need to set clear work targets, including creating a single, unified forest map; accelerating the completion of spatial planning bylaws in areas targeted by the moratorium; and synchronizing the central and local government regulations on natural resource management,” according to WWF-Indonesia CEO Efransjah.

Enacted two years ago, Indonesia’s forest moratorium has already made progress in improving forest management. The extension offers Indonesia the opportunity to reduce emissions, curb deforestation, and greatly strengthen forest governance in a country that holds some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems.

Indonesia is one of world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, largely due to the clearing of forest and peat lands. The forest moratorium aims to address this problem by prohibiting new licenses to clear or convert primary natural forests and peat lands to agriculture or other uses. This will encompass an area of over 43 million hectares of land. Forest users with existing licenses are still allowed to operate in these regions, and there are several exceptions to the rule.